Steven Wright~Home Real Estate~720-989-5283

Today was a great day and now I have 4 new construction listings minutes away from downtown Denver, Colorado. The 5th unit in this complex is owned by the builder who has his mother listing his property for sale. Naturally my clients and I thought it would be good to meet with the other Realtor to ensure we were on the same page. I spoke with the other Realtor and it was a great experience, she was very cordial and expressed a desire to work together. In addition to that she tried to recruit me for Keller Williams, she said that Keller Williams was now the 3rd largest brokerage in the United States surpassing Remax. I respectfully declined her offer and told her that my clients are not concerned with the company I work for, they do business with me because of who I am.

I do not mean to stir anything up with the other brokerages whom I have a great respect for. I believe they are great companies. But I am a numbers guy and like most evil capitalists, I like to keep as much money as I can, without giving it away to another entity. This is not to say that I do not give in a charitible way, it just means that I choose who I give my money to and not someone else choosing for me.

Getting back on track, I work for Home Real Estate,a brokerage that charges a transaction fee of 395.00. We currently have about 1400 agents in Denver, Colorado and growing. We are a full service brokerage without the overhead of many other struggling brokerages.We provide desks, work areas and conference rooms for our agents, we don't provide office space. This allows are company to not have to struggle with huge lease payment in hard times like we are in today.

Here is my question to the big guys and please don't take offense. Why would I give more of my commission or pay a hefty monthly fee, just to have the name of a big company? What does this do for me that I can't do for myself? Once again, I am not slamming any company, I am genuinely asking the question in hopes of enabling dialog. These are very difficult times that we are in and Realtors are dropping like flies and brokerages are folding left and right. Why is this the case? Is it just because we are in a bad economy? Or is it possible that some of these organizations have a failing business model?

I wanted to ask the Realtor that I am working with if Keller Williams passed Remax up as the largest National Brokerage because of the unbelievable growth they are experiencing or is it the fact that Realtors can't afford to work for Remax in some cases. It is very difficult to pay a hefty monthly fee, when you are not making money. I personally only go into my office to pick up my commission check or to close out a file. I work out of my home and have all the technology I could ever need to conduct business. I am not a brick and mortar guy and I love working out of my home. I meet my clients where it is most convenient for them when doing business. It seems to me that the current business model of having beautiful big buildings, where agents pay for office space is falling by the wayside. We live in a day and age where this is no longer practical in my opinion. I don't even have to use paper for my contracts when meeting with my clients, I have them sign their name electronically with a mouse and then e-mail a pdf file of their contract to them. This is all done in the comfort of their home.

So without stirring the pot too much, I ask this question. Why would I pay large sums of many to have a brand or a name? I do not mean to insult anyone or step on any toes, this is your opportunity to agree or disagree with me on this topic. As always, please be civil about it and present your argument for or against the opinion I have.

These are just jokes, please forgive me in advance if you are offended. I do not feel this way about my wife, but I did need some comic relief that I thought I would share with the rest of you. I tend to laugh in hard times.

One year, a husband decided to buy his mother-in-law a cemetery plot

as a Christmas gift.

The next year, he didn't buy her a gift.

When she asked him why, he replied, "Well, you still haven't used the gift I bought you last year!"

And that's how the fight started.....

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My wife walked into the den & asked "What’s on the TV?"

I replied "Dust".

And that's how the fight started.....

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A woman is standing nude, looking in the bedroom mirror.

She is not happy with what she sees and says to her husband, 'I feel horrible; I look old, fat and ugly. I really need you to pay me a compliment.'

The husband replies, 'Your eyesight's damn near perfect.'

And that's how the fight started.....

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My wife was hinting about what she wanted for our upcoming anniversary. She said, 'I want something shiny that goes from 0 to 200 in about 3 seconds.

I bought her a scale.

And that's how the fight started.....

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I asked my wife, 'Where do you want to go for our anniversary?'

It warmed my heart to see her face melt in sweet appreciation.

'Somewhere I haven't been in a long time!' she said.

So I suggested, 'How about the kitchen?'

And that's when the fight started....

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My wife and I are watching Who Wants To Be A Millionaire while we were in bed. I turned to her and said, 'Do you want to have sex?'

'No,' she answered.

I then said, 'Is that your final answer?'

She didn't even look at me this time, simply saying 'Yes.'

So I said, 'Then I'd like to phone a friend.'

And that's when the fight started....

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I tried to talk my wife into buying a case of Miller Light for $14.95.

Instead, she bought a jar of cold cream for $7.95. I told her the beer would make her look better at night than the cold cream.

And that's when the fight started.....

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I took my wife to a restaurant. The waiter, for some reason, took my order first.

'I'll have the strip steak, medium rare, please.'

He said, 'Aren't you worried about the mad cow?'

'Nah, she can order for herself.'

And that's when the fight started.....

Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend. The buyer I was working with is still not liking anything that I show her, but we still press on. Not all buyers can be like my last few buyers, where I show them under 5 properties and then they find the one that they can't live without. The upside is that I have qualified buyers to show properties and for that I am very thankful.

What is your overall view of what is happening in the Real Estate market in the last month. It really seems pretty chaotic to me and I can't get my arms around it. It doesn't seem to shake the couple of buyers that I am working with currently, but it sure is shaking people that I am courting as new buyers. This economic cyclone has really got them all mixed up for the most part. Honestly, I think that President Obama would be better serving our country if he didn't speak unless he has some concrete ideas on how to move forward. I did not vote for him and I will never vote for him for too many reasons to talk about in this post. But I do want him to enact policies that will make our country successful since he is the president. This indirectly means that I want him to be successful when he is proposing policies that will help all Americans.

Interestingly enough, I have been harping on this stimulus package by focusing my energy on NAR's support for the package. What if I just stop paying NAR is the post that I wrote and I am truly humbled by your comments and response to this post. It is now 120 comments and counting. I am still getting an addition 5+ comments a day on this post because of the note it strikes in all of us. Most of us are just so fed up with the status quo of NAR that we can't stand it any more. It is time for us to get off the sidelines and start making some noise. The squeaky wheel does get the oil and we should run with that analogy.

Back to my question about whether or not things are going to get better or worse in the not too distant future. What does your gut tell you from what you have been observing? Remember to put partisan politics aside if you can when answering this question. Just look at what you have seen so far and tell us what you think. It is really easy for everyone to blame former President Bush. The last months 25 percent drop in the stock market seemed to be strangely linked to consumer confidence and mostly confidence of investors on Wall Street when someone from the current administration spoke. It seems that this class warfare between the rich and the poor is not going over so well. I haven't heard as many stupid comments from congressional leaders in a long time. I don't think that they get the fact that when they speak it has an effect on the market. They spout off in their partisan bitterness and we all have to suffer for it.

I would love to hear your thoughts if you are willing to share. Take this opportunity to constructively vent about the way things are going. I think that most of you are a great source of wisdom when it comes to how the economy is doing from a Micro level.

All the best,

Steven Wright
My Website (And once again I have improved my website, take a look)
720-989-5283
stevensellsco@gmail.com

This is the true story of George Phillips of Meridian, Mississippi, who was going to bed when his wife told him that he'd left the light on in the shed. George opened the door to go turn off the light but saw there were people in the shed in the process of stealing things.

He immediately phoned the police, who asked "Is someone in your house?" and George said no and explained the situation. Then they explained that all patrols were busy, and that he should simply lock his door and an officer would be there when available.

George said, "Okay," hung up, counted to 30, and phoned the police again.

"Hello, I just called you a few seconds ago because there were people in my shed. Well, you don't have to worry about them now because I've just shot them all."

Then he hung up. Within five minutes three squad cars, an Armed Response unit, and an ambulance showed up. Of course, the police caught the burglars red-handed.

One of the policemen said to George: "I thought you said that you'd shot them!"

George said, "I thought you said there was nobody available!"

Here are some humorous quotes from Al Gore. Let me know if they struck you as funny.

"We are ready for any unforeseen event that may or may not occur."

-- Vice President Al Gore, 9/22/97

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"The Holocaust was an obscene period in our nation's history. I mean in this century's history. But we all lived in this century. I didn't live in this century."

-- Vice President Al Gore, 9/15/95

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"It isn't pollution that's harming the environment. It's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."

-- Vice President Al Gore

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"I have made good judgments in the past. I have made good judgments in the future."

-- Vice President Al Gore